1 Corinthians 14:2, 9 - Speaking to God in Tongues - Echo - Aeolus - Juno

When the Corinthians spoke in unknown tongues Paul said that they were just speaking into the air. He warns that while trying to speak to and for Christ they might still be worshipping the gods and goddesses of the air. Some of these are Aeolus, Echo and Juno. We cannot know for sure, but Paul has already alluded to demon worship and "play" in chapter ten, uncovered prophesying in chapter 11, the fact that not all have these gifts in chapter 12 and musician or singer is not listed as a spiritual gift, the military, Greek and Chaldean instruments of war panic and Molech worship at Topheth (tambourine). Therefore, it is possible that "speaking to God" when God wanted to speak to them and speaking into the air carry the same meaning of musical magic. One cannot tell from the word "god" whether this is God or just a god.

See Don Finto and Rubel Shelly on latter day apostles and prophets.

History is pregnant with the notion that what we call modern performance preaching, performance music and speaking in tongues would be the occasion for "comic relief." However, then as now, it would not be honored as spiritual. In performance and spectatorship, ridiculing the performance as silly or insane does not detract from its entertainment value. Applause was also recognized by these early writers not so much as a way to honor the "winner of the contest" as to ridicule the loosers.

When Christ ascended He then gave supernatural gifts to certain men to set the church in order and finish the revelation process. These "gifts" were in the form of supernaturally-equipped men. The goal was a mature body able teach in a one-another ministry:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; Ephesians 4:11

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Ephesians 4:12

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: Ephesians 4:13

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive; Ephesians 4:14

These winds come from wind blowers and Paul described the practices of the gods or godesses of the air to whom one spoke in unknown tongues. Cuninning, craftiness and lies worked for them. The only antidote is knowledge of the Word of God.

The Greek word HERESY take with the hand, grasp, take, get into one's power as with hupnos and song. The included word ANAIREO meaning "apo chthonos having raised the victim from the ground, so as to cut its throat." Take up and carry off, bear away, make away with, destroy, of men, kill. These are the BEAST in the book of Revelation. In our time ZOE is the "beast and female instructing principle." Anaiero also means oracle's answer to inquiry. The way to raise you up into the AIR is with the word AEIDO or singing: to sing, Il., etc.:--then of any sound, to twang, of the bowstring, Od.; to whistle, of the wind, Mosch.; to ring, of a stone struck: includes to raise up consume in speech making. External singing and melody are the task of the TETTIX or Locusts. They, in turn are the MUSES serving Apollo, Abaddon or Apollyon.

These false "winds" were, of course, in the form of doctrines from anemos or from the four quarters of the earth. Aeolus was one such "god of the wind."

To graduate from "speaking to the winds" or generic "gods," the collective body must have all of its members devoted to teaching. Remember that Jesus said that worship must be in spirit or in the mind and in truth. This is not performing a ritual which arrouses God or causes Him to "mark you present." Rather, the worship Jesus commanded means to "prostrate oneself in homage." The speaking of truth (Christ's Words) are not directed to Him in some artificial praise. Rather, one worships in the mind by "crouching oneself in reverence" or putting self down so that Christ can speak through His word to the disciples:

Let us say it again: true "worship" is to let Christ's Spirit dictate our posture. What was the posture of Jesus? In the Synagogue He read the Scriptures and then sat down. He spoke His Words to those who would listen. We cannot have the Spirit of Christ or the mental disposition of Christ and hop, skip, jump and sing our own songs with a modern, organ-derived, form of complex melody. Why? Because there is nothing in Christ's actions or teachings which would lead us in that direction. Therefore, this form of body or legalistic worship is not according to the Spirit of Christ.

Before looking at Paul's warning about "speaking into the air" which defined their "speaking to what is probably a generic god," it is important to see how he treats the worship of the Unknown god in Athens.

Athens

The Apostle Paul

For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. Acts 17:23

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Acts 17:24

Neither is worshipped with mens hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; Acts 17:25

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; Acts 17:26

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: Acts 17:27

Pausanias Description of Greece

[5.14.8] An account of the great altar I gave a little way back; it is called the altar of

Olympian Zeus. By it is an altar of Unknown Gods, and after this an altar of Zeus Purifier, one of Victory, and another of Zeus--this time surnamed Underground. There are also altars of all gods, and of Hera surnamed Olympian, this too being made of ashes

[1.1.4] The Athenians have also another harbor, at Munychia, with a temple of Artemis of Munychia, and yet another at Phalerum, as I have already stated, and near it is a sanctuary of Demeter. Here there is also a temple of Athena Sciras, and one of Zeus some distance away, and altars of the gods named Unknown

Strabo in his Geography wrote:

[10.3.17] From its melody and rhythm and instruments, all Thracian music has been considered to be Asiatic. And this is clear, first, from the places where the Muses have been worshipped, for Pieria and Olympus and Pimpla and Leibethrum were in ancient times Thracian places and mountains, though they are now held by the Macedonians; and again, Helicon was consecrated to the Muses by the Thracians who settled in Boeotia, the same who consecrated the cave of the nymphs called Leibethrides. And again, those who devoted their attention to the music of early times are called Thracians, I mean Orpheus, Musaeus, and Thamyris; and Eumolpus, (sweet singer) too, got his name from there. And those writers who have consecrated the whole of Asia, as far as India, to Dionysus, derive the greater part of music from there. And one writer says, "striking the Asiatic cithara"; another calls flutes "Berecyntian" and "Phrygian"; and some of the instruments have been called by barbarian names, "nablas," "sambyce," "barbitos," "magadis," and several others.

What might seem spiritual to the ignorant or the purely mercenary modern priesthood, and which will appeal to similar secular or legalistic minds, often just looks comical or worse to those who understand a bit of history and can read the Bible. For instance, Strabo continues to question the authority and gender of men who joined in with "preside-over or stand-over or non-sedantary" female worship leaders:

10.3.18] Just as in all other respects the Athenians continue to be hospitable to things foreign,

so also in their worship of the gods;

for they welcomed so many of the foreign rites

that they were ridiculed therefore by comic writers;

and among these were the Thracian and Phrygian rites. For instance, the Bendideian rites are mentioned by Plato, and the Phrygian by Demosthenes,

when he casts the reproach upon Aeschines' mother and Aeschines himself
........... that he was with her when she conducted initiations,
........... that he joined her in leading the Dionysiac march,
........... and that many a time he cried out "evoe saboe," and "hyes attes, attes hyes";
........... for these words are in the ritual of Sabazius and the Mother.

[10.3.15] They invented names appropriate to the flute, and to the noises made by castanets, cymbals, and drums, and to their acclamations and shouts of "ev-ah," and stampings of the feet;1 and they also invented some of the names by which to designate the ministers, choral dancers, (Today: Musical Worship Facilitators) and attendants upon the sacred rites, I mean "Cabeiri" and "Corybantes" and "Pans" and "Satyri" and "Tityri," and they called the god "Bacchus," and Rhea "Cybele" or "Cybebe" or "Dindymene" (Today: Zoe) according to the places where she was worshipped. Sabazius also belongs to the Phrygian group and in a way is the child of the Mother, since he too transmitted the rites of Dionysus (This is the ancient Babylonian Triad worship)

In today's predictable restoration of ancient feminine and effeminate ZOE and SOPHIA worship the musical worship facilitators are "on the staff" as artistic "pastors" or "pastorettes" and are billed as able to "lead the worshippers into the presence of God." And the drama-worship choral dancers "provide a platform upon which the gods land."

[10.3.19] Further, one might also find, in addition to these facts concerning these genii and their various names, that they were called,
........... not only ministers of gods,
........... but also gods themselves.

This fits the pattern of the Eucharist which holds that Christ must be put to death at each mass. Believer's Baptism also rejects the FIRST sacrifice of Christ. When one is "saved by faith" and is instructed well enough they are baptized BECAUSE they are saved. In other words, baptism is considered a pledge or GUARANTEE to man and God that one is saved and will "be a good boy." In Baptist believer's baptism invented by Zwingli in the year 1525 Christ must come again and die for the Gentile believer. Or, as the Britannica notes, the PERSOM must become Christ and die for their own sins.

Oh, don't we wish that the "threshing oxen" in obedience to Paul's model, Paul's absolute command and the practice of the historic churches, just get productive jobs or move on to the "fields white unto harvest." But they won't when they can construct their own little Tower of Babel (babble) and staff it like the Babylonians with priests, prophets, soothsayers and prostitutes:

For instance, Hesiod says that five daughters were born to Hecaterus and the daughter of Phoroneus, from whom sprang the mountain-ranging nymphs (like har-meggido little hills striving to be mountains), goddesses, and the breed of Satyrs,

creatures worthless and unfit for work,

and also the Curetes, sportive gods, dancers.

And the author of Phoronis speaks of the

Curetes as "flute-players" and "Phrygians"; and

others as "earth-born" and "wearing brazen shields."

Some call the Corybantes, and not the Curetes, "Phrygians," but the Curetes "Cretes," and say that the Cretes were the first people to don brazen armour in Euboea, and that on this account they were also called "Chalcidians"; (chalc, brazen) still others say that the Corybantes, who came from Bactriana (some say from among the Colchians. Also a note: "they occupied Bactriana, and acquired possession of the best land in Armenia"), were given as armed ministers to Rhea by the Titans.

Aristophanes Thesmophoriazusae ridicules the satyrs:

Agathon: If the heroes are men, [155] everything in him will be manly. What we don't possess by nature, we must acquire by imitation.

Mnesilochus [aside]:When you are staging Satyrs, call me; I will do my best to help you from behind, if I can get my tool up.

Agathon: Besides, it is bad taste for a poet to be coarse and hairy. Look at the famous Ibycus, at Anacreon of Teos, and at Alcaeus, who handled music so well; they wore head-bands and found pleasure in the lascivious and dances of Ionia. And have you not heard what a dandy Phrynichus was and how careful in his dress? For this reason his pieces were also beautiful, for the works of a poet are copied from himself.

bring back the flowing wine!" Thereat he bound

his forehead with green garland, calling loud

upon the Genius of that place, and Earth,

eldest of names divine; the Nymphs he called,

and river- gods unknown; his voice invoked

he night, the omen-stars through night that roll.

Jove, Ida's child, and Phrygia's fertile Queen:

he called his mother from OIympian skies,

While Paul spoke volumns as he warned against worshipping the Unknown God, he also warned modern "ceremonial legalists" that while their devotion to the human performing arts may attract a large crowd of those always searching but never coming to the knowledge of the truth, the watching world will usually attend and applaud for the comic content. After all, we have shown that the applause or hand clap has always been a way to ridicule the loosers.

In the same way, his usually-misunderstood message of speaking in tongues and "emotional warfare" worship which "does more harm than good" (1 Cor. 11:17), has a rich background in the Classical literature of the time which Paul understood. He could see ancient paganism making inroads into the young Christian churches.

Speaking to the gods or into the air

For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto god: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. 1 Corinthians 14:2

So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. 1 Cor 14:9

Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. 1Co.14:11

TONGUES AS THE EVIDENCE OF THE SPIRIT

There are some Pentecostals who make tongues as THE proof that one is saved or filled with the spirit. Many wait for this evidence to occur and when it does not they look desperately to find whatever flaw or sin is holding back his Spirit from coming and become saved.

The bible does not teach tongues is the evidence for salvation, but one of the many evidences of someone possessing the Holy Spirit. Their patience in striving and expecting is for naught. Paul states rhetorically in 1 Cor.12:29 are all prophets are all apostles and teachers? Answer is NO! Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak in tongues? again the answer is NO! In Chapter 14 he says he'd rather they prophecy and in vs.5: "I wish you all spoke in tongues but even more that you prophesied. At the beginning of Chpt.12 he states the Lord gives out the gifts as he wills and that they are all different gifts not everyone has the same gift vs.11. the gift of tongues is listed last. In Rom.12 and Eph.4 it is not mentioned at all, giving us the impression that it is a insignificant gift compared to the others. Tongues were never intended to be the common denominator of spiritual gifts to all believers, to make this as such is divisive.

(Jesus said you shall be my witnesses, literally martyrs. What if we were to give the same credence to being killed for Christ as a measure of spirituality. This certainly would clear the air about being spiritual. Imagine someone saying you don't have salvation because you haven't died for him).

Many say God does not change so what he did before he will do today, this is used for Jesus healing all as well (Heb.13:8). It is not a matter of what He will or will not do but what He has chosen to do in His Church. The truth is God has changed the way he does some things, but it is His nature that does not change.

Strabo Geography 10.3.13 Barbarians

Her. I very much approve.

Soc. That objects should be imitated in letters and syllables, and so find expression, may appear ridiculous, Hermogenes, but it cannot be avoided- there is no better principle to which we can look for the truth of first names.

Deprived of this, we must have recourse to divine help, like the tragic poets,
who in any perplexity have their Gods waiting in the air;

and must get out of our difficulty in like fashion, by saying that "the Gods gave the first names, and therefore they are right."

This will be the best contrivance, or perhaps that other notion may be even better still, of deriving them from some barbarous people, for the barbarians are older than we are; or we may say that antiquity has cast a veil over them, which is the same sort of excuse as the last;

for all these are not reasons but only ingenious excuses for having no reasons concerning the truth of words.

And yet any sort of ignorance of first or primitive names involves an ignorance of secondary words; for they can only be explained by the primary.

Clearly then the professor of languages should be able to give a very lucid explanation of first names, or let him be assured he will only talk nonsense about the rest. Do you not suppose this to be true?

Now, we have to understand which generic "god" they might possibly be speaking to:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, Eph 2:1

in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler (god) of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. Eph 2:2

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. Eph 2:3

Lucifer and the powers of the air hovering around it... try in vain to tear down the cross and to silence the importunate clangour of the bells... baffled demons leave the Cathedral unharmed and... through the gloom the Archangel Michael with drawn sword is seen flaming in gold and crimson on the panes of the lighted windows, while, as they recede into the distance, they are pursued in their flight by the pealing music of the organ and the voices of the choir chanting." (Frazer, James George, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament, Macmillian, p. 419, 1923)

Throughtout the Middle Ages and down to modern times the sound of church bells was also in great request for the purpose of routing witches and wizards, who gathered unseen in the air to play their wicked pranks on man and beast." (Frazer, James George, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament, p. 422-423, Macmillian, 1923)

Gods are called by many names and "at another time, again, he maintains that they are gods of the air, and are termed heros; at another, following the opinion of the ancients, he says that the Lares are ghosts, as it were a kind of tutelary demon, spirits of dead men." (Arnobius Against the Heathen, Ante-Nicene, VI, p. 475).

Like modern performance "worship" the Corinthians had things mixed up: they were supposed to speak Biblical Truth (Eph 5:19; Col 3:18f) to one another because God didn't need instructions nor entertainment. The Corinthian women, just out of paganism, were imitating this so that the watching believer would understand them to be "enthused" or mad or insane just as they had been in paganism.  Paul errected a "wall" between the Christian and any pagan practice.

"Music was understood to drive away hostile chthonic demons who loved tranquility and quiet. this concept of music's magical power is found in the formula of a love spell published by S. Eitrem:

"X.X. is bound with the tendons of the holy phoenix so that you will love N.N. with your whole heart and no barking dog or braying ass, cock or conjurer, the clash of cymbals or the noise of flutes or anything else under the heavens will ever set you free."

"The harmful screaming of those who were to be killed in sacrifices was particularly attractived to the wicked demons,
........... with whom the pagans believed the air (1 Corinthians 14:9) was filled.

Consequently, music was found to be especially appropriate at the time of sacrifice as a means of driving away the evil spirits who would destroy its efficacy. From this it can also be seen why music had to be uninterrupted during the actio. It was not necessary, then, that music drown out cries of pain but rather that it simply drive away the demons who had been attracted by those cries." (Quasten, Johannes, Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, pgs 16-17)

No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons (who distribute fortunes or gifts of spirits), not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 1 Corinthians10:20

So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 1 Corinthians 14:9

"In Greek ritual the sacrifice was accompanied by the invocatory cries of women.
........... Their purpose was to call the good gods so that they cound enjoy the sacrifice.

Music had the same character of epiclesis. It was understood to "call down" the good gods. Menander attests to the attribution of this significance to music. According to Plutarch, the inhabiants of Argos blew trumpets on the feast of Dionysos so as to call the god up from the depths of the river Lerne for the sacrifice. Because song and music increased the efficacy of the epiclesis the words of epiclesis were nearly always sung to instrumental accompaniment.

Thus the Dionysian fellowship used the ritual of women in order to obtain the appearance of their god. Arnobius alludes to such songs of the pagans performed to flute accompaniment, and he mockingly asks whether the sleeping deities will be awakened by them." (Quasten, Johannes, Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, p. 17)

Paul pokes fun at the Corinthians using irony. He has already told them that the Divine plan was that not everyone was given the gift of speaking in tongues nor could everyone be a king. Nevertheless, Paul wishes that they were all kings so that he could reign with them; and he wishes that they could all speak in tongues. Don't take that as a sober-side of Paul but as "comic relief."

And even things without life (lifeless instruments or carnal instruments) giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? 1 Corinthians 14:7

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 1 Corinthians 14:8

So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. 1 Corinthians 14:9

Just as the Athenians worshipping the unknown gods was not positive. Remember also that Paul warned the women about their uncovered "prophesying" outside of the assembly in 11:5

But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 1 Corinthians 11:5

Paul understood that musical prophesying throughout the ancient world was equivalent to prostitution:

"I saw in Byblos a great temple of Aphrodite of Byblos, in which they perform ceremonies in memory of Adonis, and I was told about the ceremonies. They say that the story of Adonis and the boar actually took place in their country, and in memory of this unhappy incident, they beat their breasts each year and wail and perform certain rites, and hold a great funeral ceremony throughout the whole land.

When they have given their breasts a good beating and done enough weeping, they first bring presents to Adonis as though to a dead man;

but then, the morning after, they say that he is alive and up in the air. Then they shave their heads as the Egyptians do at the death of Apis. As for the women, all those who do not wish to be shaved pay the following forfeit: for one day, they must put their beauty on sale, but the market is open only to strangers, and the price is used for a sacrifice to Aphrodite." (de Vaux, p. 224-225)

Paul told us how to keep the "wind" doctrines from blowing us off our secure position:

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: Ephesians 4:15

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:16

When the the churches were, like Elihu recorded in Job, still under those "filling their bellies with hot air from the East" or pagan rituals they were still in danger of being blown about by the winds of change. The only solution is to shut down what the pagans called "worship" and come together for edification which is education.

To silence the Corinthian worshippers of the gods and godesses of the air, Paul compared their practices in chapter 13 to the air gods and then demanded that they teach doctrinal truth to build up the church rather than to "god" or the "air" to build up themselves. The "worship" ritual of the wind gods was "speaking in tongues" but not speaking languages. For an excellent parody on singing or speaking to the air or clouds click here.

THOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1

Sounding is from the Greek:

Echeo (g2278) ay-kheh'-o; from 2279; to make a loud noise, i.e. reverberate: - roar, sound.

Echos (g2279) ay'-khos; of uncert. affin.; a loud or confused noise ("echo"), i.e. roar: fig. a rumor: - fame, sound.

This is the meaning of sounds like that of many waters:

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Luke 21:25

Aristophanes Thesmophoriazusae

Something strange happened to the nymph Echo: her speech was curtailed by Hera, so that she merely repeated the concluding phrases of a speech and returned the words she heard. Echo was a nymph. Hera did this because Echo, holding the goddess in long talk, prevented her to catch the NYMPHS who had been in company with her husband.

"That tongue of yours, by which I have been tricked, shall have its power curtailed and enjoy the briefest use of speech." [Hera]

Echo was educated by the NYMPHS, and taught to play music by the MUSES. Some say Echo fled from all males, whether men or Gods, because she loved virginity. Seeing that, Pan took occasion to be angry at her, and to envy her music because he could not come at her beauty.

Therefore he turned mad the shepherds and goatherds, and they, like dogs and wolves, tore her to pieces and flung them about them all over the earth.

Gaia buried them, preserving their musical property, and by a decree of the MUSES they breathe out a voice, imitating all things.

But it is also said that she, because of grief, faded away with the exception of her voice. This happened when Echo fell in love with Narcissus and he spurned her love.

Narcissus was, according to some, the son of the River God Cephisus & the Nymph Liriope, or according to others, the son of Endymion and Selene (Moon). When Narcissus was born the seer Tiresias was asked whether this child would live a long life and the seer replied:

"If he never know himself"

When Echo fell in love with him and her love was not returned, she disappeared from woods and mountains and faded away. Some say not even her bones remained because they were turned into stone.

Sounding Brass and Tinkling Cymbals

Chorus Echo, the nymph of Cithaeron, returns thy words, which resound beneath the dark vaults of the thick foliage and in the midst of the rocks of the forest; the ivy enlaces thy brow with its tendrils charged with flowers.

`cymbalum': cymbala were hollow hemispheres of metal a few inches in diameter, held one in each hand by the aid of small rings or thongs attached to the center of their convex surfaces. Struck together, they gave a sharp, clanging sound that fitted well with that of the tympana and tibiæ; cf. Catul. 64.262 ``tereti tenuis tinnitus ære ciebant''; Ov. Fast. 4.184 ``æra tinnitus ære epulsa dabunt''; Ov. Fast. 4.189 ``sonus æris acuti''; Aus. Epist. 24.23 ``tinnitus atinnitus aëni.eumlaut;ni.''

RISD 25.078, Attic red figure lekythos, c. 500-475 B.C. Hera seated on a throne. Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the Museum of Art, RISD, Providence, RI 45

Brass is:

Chalkos (g5475) khal-kos'; perh. from 5465 through the idea of hollowing out as a vessel (this metal being chiefly used for that purpose); copper (the substance, or some implement or coin made of it): - brass, money.

Chalao (g5465) khal-ah'-o; from the base of 5490; to lower (as into a void): - let down, strike

Paul compares the practices of the goddess of the air, ECHO, to the empty sounding echos or reverberation of musical instruments. And then he compares the musical noise to speaking in tongues directed to some god and were therefore just "speaking into the air." All of these, difficult to be understood teachings of Paul, directly link the Corinthian worship to the paganism out of which they had just come.

Ovid Metamorphoses 7.346.

against the magic-making sound of gongs
O wonder-working Moon, I draw you down
against the magic-making sound of gongs
and brazen vessels of Temesa's ore;
I cast my spells and veil the jeweled rays
of Phoebus' wain, and quench Aurora's fires.
"At my command you tamed the flaming bulls

Strabo defines the choral dance the Jewish Clergy tried to induce into Jesus as they "played their pipes" but He refused to fall into their effeminate form of worship:

Strabo Geography 10.3.13

The poets bear witness to such views as I have suggested. For instance, when Pindar, in the dithyramb which begins with these words, In earlier times there marched the lay of the dithyrambs long drawn out, mentions the hymns sung in honor of Dionysus, both the ancient and the later ones, and then, passing on from these, says,

To perform the prelude in thy honor, great Mother, the whirling of cymbals is at hand, and among them, also,

the clanging of castanets, and the torch that blazeth beneath the tawny pine-trees, he bears witness to the common relationship between the rites exhibited in the worship of Dionysus among the Greeks and those in the worship of the Mother of the gods among the Phrygians, for he makes these rites closely akin to one another. And Euripides does likewise, in his Bacchae, citing the Lydian usages at the same time with those of Phrygia, because of their similarity:

But ye who left Mt. Tmolus, fortress of Lydia, revel-band of mine, women whom I brought from the land of barbarians as my assistants and travelling companions,

uplift the tambourines native to Phrygian cities, inventions of mine and mother Rhea. And again, happy he who, blest man, initiated in the mystic rites, is pure in his life, . . . who, .. for me the triple-crested Corybantes in their caverns invented this hide-stretched circlet, and blent its Bacchic revelry with the

high-pitched, sweet-sounding breath of Phrygian flutes, and in Rhea's hands placed its resounding noise, to accompany the shouts of the Bacchae, and from Mother Rhea frenzied Satyrs obtained it and joined it to the choral dances of the Trieterides, in whom Dionysus takes delight. And in the Palamedes the Chorus says, Thysa, daughter of Dionysus, who on Ida rejoices with his dear mother in the bacchic revels of tambourines.

While we might all wish to have supernatural power, Paul demanded that charity demands that we instead of seek to be able to teach that which Christ has already inspired and spoken. The church did not come together to "worship" in the legal or pagan sense to feed, clothe, house or entertain God. Rather, the Christian assembly is directed toward the assembly: to allow Christ to speak to the church through the Word. Look at 1 Corinthians 14:

Wrong Direction	FOLLOW (pursue) after charity, and desire (have a warm feeling) spiritual gifts
Right Direction	but rather (instead of) that ye may prophesy. 1 Corinthians 14:1

Wrong Direction	For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto god: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the (his own) spirit he speaketh mysteries (imposed silence). 1 Corinthians 14:2
Right Direction	But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. 1 Corinthians 14:3

Wrong Direction	He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth (builds his own house) himself;
Right Direction	but he that prophesieth (teaches) edifieth (builds the whole body) the church. 1 Corinthians 14:4

Next, Paul defines prophesying as speaking the reveled Words of Christ:

I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. 1 Corinthians 14:5

(Note: Pavarotti might say "I wish you all could sing opera" but, like Paul in chapter 12, he would say "but you don't all have the gift, do you?")

Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? 1 Corinthians 14:6

Even a lifeless harp can be blown about by the wind and give out unknown tongues. And the unlearned believed that it was the god inside of the instrument. Paul knew this, so how are you any better than a trumpet blown by a child in the middle of the battle?

And even things without life (lifeless instruments are carnal weapons) giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? 1 Corinthians 14:7

For if the trumpet give an uncertain (hidden from the troops) sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 1 Corinthians 14:8

Right Direction	So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken?
Wrong Direction	for ye shall speak into the air (Aer to breath unconsciously from the natural flesh.) 1 Corinthians 14:9

Peter warned that Paul's words can be easily perverted and destroy people. Therefore, we have to hear Paul speaking within the language and religion of the Corinthians out of which they had just come. The Greekk "god of the air" lived in Corinth.

Paul always compared this to the actions of children:

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 1 Corinthians 13:11

Paul, too, could speak the gibberish but he could also speak the languages of the Roman empire. However, in Corinth he would just insult them if he spoke English:

Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. 1 Corinthians 14:19

Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. 1 Corinthians 14:20

The developed believer is a mature adult. Therefore, if they speak in tongues in Corinth where everyone understood Greek, the unbeliever would see them as mad or insane which was the charismatic ecstasy of the god of the air:

If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? 1 Corinthians 14:23

People come to the Christian church to hear the words of Christ or it is not Christian. When the seekers came to "church" in Corinth they could easily tell whether they were worshipping the god of the air practiced down the street or were devoted to the spirit or mind or the rational nature.

The world recognized 5 languages and 70 minor dialects which were called TONGUES. The Corinthian church is believed to have met at Cenchrea since history knows of no church meeting IN Corinth proper. There was a canal and causeway which ran from West to East. This kept ships from having to take a long, dangerous voyage. Women like Phoebe was a Greek official charged with giving traveler's aid, finding jobs or homes if they wished to remain in Greece. This meant that most of the church people were NOT city folk. They usually had their own tongue or dialect and everyone believed that prayers or chants had more power in their magical language. However, Koine Greek was almost universal language. If they all spoke in their foreign tongues they could not be understood without an interpreter. Therefore, Paul said to pray in your spirit in your own dialect, but if so pray so that YOU might interpret.

When speaking in tongues it had to be one person at a time with another person to judge whether he was inspired or just a worshipper of the god of the air. However, in the mature church preaching gives way to dialog. If everyone can teach and no one is involved in singing, dancing, shouting, playing instruments and looking insane, then the unbeliever would see this as a sign of God's Spirit presence:

But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: 1 Corinthians 14:24

And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. 1 Corinthians 14:25

When people lifted up holy hands as one might be holding up a book, the view was that God was personally speaking throught His Word. Another view is that "prophesying" was either a charismatic, musical outrage or it was "giving heed" to reading the Word so that you could say, "Thus saith the Lord."

In the mature church the unbeliever is a child of the community to be taught by all and not a spectator to be preached to or sung to which is still just speaking in tongues.

Aeolus - Human Who Became God of the Air

in Greek mythology, mythical king of Magnesia in Thessaly, the son of Hellen (the eponymous ancestor of the true Greeks, or Hellenes) and father of Sisyphus (the "most crafty of men"). Aeolus' daughter Canace and son Macareus committed incest and then took their own lives. Their story provided the subject of Euripides' lost Aeolus. Aeolus gave his name to Aeolis, a territory on the western coast of Asia Minor.

Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc'd by fate,

And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate,

Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore.

 

Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore,

And in the doubtful war, before he won

The Latian realm, and built the destin'd town;

His banish'd gods restor'd to rites divine,

 

And settled sure succession in his line,

From whence the race of Alban fathers come,

And the long glories of majestic Rome.

 

O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate;

What goddess was provok'd, and whence her hate;

For what offense the Queen of Heav'n began

To persecute so brave, so just a man;

Involv'd his anxious life in endless cares,

Expos'd to wants, and hurried into wars!

 

The Queen of Heav'n did thus her fury vent:

"Then am I vanquish'd? must I yield?" said she,

"And must the Trojans reign in Italy?

 

So Fate will have it, and Jove adds his force;

Nor can my pow'r divert their happy course.

Could angry Pallas, with revengeful spleen,

The Grecian navy burn, and drown the men?

She, for the fault of one offending foe,

The bolts of Jove himself presum'd to throw:

 

With whirlwinds from beneath she toss'd the ship,

And bare expos'd the bosom of the deep;

Then, as an eagle gripes the trembling game,

The wretch, yet hissing with her father's flame,

She strongly seiz'd, and with a burning wound

Transfix'd, and naked, on a rock she bound.

 

But I, who walk in awful state above,

The majesty of heav'n, the sister wife of Jove,

For length of years my fruitless force employ

Against the thin remains of ruin'd Troy!

What nations now to Juno's pow'r will pray,

Or off'rings on my slighted altars lay?"

 

Thus rag'd the goddess; and, with fury fraught.

The restless regions of the storms she sought,

Where, in a spacious cave of living stone,

The tyrant Aeolus, from his airy throne,

With pow'r imperial curbs the struggling winds,

And sounding tempests in dark prisons binds.

 

This way and that th' impatient captives tend,

And, pressing for release, the mountains rend.

High in his hall th' undaunted monarch stands,

And shakes his scepter, and their rage commands;

 

Which did he not, their unresisted sway

Would sweep the world before them in their way;

Earth, air, and seas thro' empty space would roll,

And heav'n would fly before the driving soul.

 

In fear of this, the Father of the Gods

Confin'd their fury to those dark abodes,

And lock'd 'em safe within, oppress'd with mountain loads;

Impos'd a king, with arbitrary sway,

To loose their fetters, or their force allay.

 

To whom the suppliant queen her pray'rs address'd,

And thus the tenor of her suit express'd:

"O Aeolus! for to thee the King of Heav'n

The pow'r of tempests and of winds has giv'n;

 

Thy force alone their fury can restrain,

And smooth the waves, or swell the troubled main-

A race of wand'ring slaves, abhorr'd by me,

With prosp'rous passage cut the Tuscan sea;

To fruitful Italy their course they steer,

And for their vanquish'd gods design new temples there.

Aeolian harp

One of the most ancient superstitions is that the sound produced by a string stretched upon a bow was actually the voice of a god. Indeed, it is believed that the bow was a musical "god of the air" before it became a weapon of destruction. In Hebrew, instrument and weapon are the same word. When such a device was hung up on a tree the blowing wind was evidence of the presence of the god of the air speaking to you. with a large enough offer you might even interpret the "unknown tongue" for the ignorant shepherd.

"from Aeolus, the Greek god of the winds), stringed musical instrument played by the wind. It is made of a wooden sound box about 3 feet by 5 inches by 3 inches (1 m by 13 cm by 8 cm) that is loosely strung with 10 or 12 gut strings. These strings are all of the same length but vary in thickness and hence in elasticity. The strings are all tuned to the same pitch. In the wind they vibrate in aliquot parts (i.e., in halves, thirds, fourths . . . ) thus sounding the octave, 12th, second octave, and succeedingly higher harmonics of the string's fundamental note.

"The principle of natural vibration of strings by the pressure of the wind has long been recognized. According to legend, King David hung his kinnor (a kind of lyre) above his bed at night to catch the wind, and in the 10th century Dunstan of Canterbury produced sounds from a harp by allowing the wind to blow through its strings." "Aeolian harp" Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

Dunstan was also a noted musican, embroiderer, and illuminator. He was charged with sorcery because such sounds were always considered the voice of a god or demon inside of the instrument.

Indeed, instruments were baptized and worshipped as the god.

The technology behind this instrument between the 12th and the 16th centuries made a radical change in music theory:

1. an introduction of folk music into the ecclesiastical and secular art forms (Most modern "worship" music is a blend of folk music, oppressed slave music and a large dash of voodoo or jazz.)

2. and the steadily evolving harmony destined to unify the growing complexity of polyphonic (many-voiced) musical texture.

Musical harmony is both musically and medically a form of "speaking in tongues" where teaching Biblical doctrine is not required. In fact, songs which worship the Holy Spirit as a "person" of a three-member family of gods are in fact "speaking to the air or wind god" of paganism beginning in Babylon and ending in Babylon (Revelation 18).

In Pseudo-Apollodorus we hear Paul's resources speaking to us to keep us from perverting His words to our own destruction:

"Sisyphus, the son of Aeolus, was the cunning king of Corinth who was punished in Hades by having repeatedly to roll a huge stone up a hill only to have it roll down again as soon as he had brought it to the summit. This fate is related in the Odyssey. In the Iliad Sisyphus, living at Ephyre (later Corinth), was the son of Aeolus (eponymous ancestor of the Aeolians) and the father of Glaucus. In post-Homeric times he was called the father of Odysseus, cunning obviously providing the link between them. Sisyphus was the reputed founder of the Isthmian Games. Later legend related that when Death came to fetch him, Sisyphus chained him up so that no one died until Ares came to aid Death, and Sisyphus had to submit. In the meantime, Sisyphus had told his wife, Merope, not to perform the usual sacrifices and to leave his body unburied. Thus, when he reached the underworld he was permitted to return to punish her for the omission. Once back at home, he continued to live to a ripe old age before dying a second time.

Bellerophon with his horse Pegasus, stone bas-relief; in the Palazzo Spada, Rome Alinari--Art Resource/EB Inc. In Pseudo-Apollodorus

Bellerophon also called BELLEROPHONTES, hero in Greek legend. In the Iliad he was the son of Glaucus, who was the son of Sisyphus of Ephyre (traditionally Corinth). Anteia (or Stheneboea), wife of Proetus, the king of Argos, loved him; when her overtures were rejected, she falsely accused him to her husband. Proetus then sent Bellerophon to Iobates, the king of Lycia, with a message that he was to be slain. The king, repeatedly unsuccessful in his assassination attempts, finally recognized Bellerophon as more than human and married him to his daughter. Bellerophon lived in prosperity until he fell out of favour with the gods, lost two of his children, and wandered grief-stricken over the Aleian Plain. Britannica Online Member

Definition: Echidna

"(Greek: "Snake"), monster of Greek mythology, half-woman, half-serpent. Her parents were either the sea deities Phorcys and Ceto or Chrysaor, the monstrous son of Medusa, and Callirrhoë, the daughter of Oceanus. Among Echidna's progeny, by the 100-headed Typhon, were Ladon (the dragon who protected the Golden Apples of the Hesperides), the dragon who protected the Golden Fleece, the Hydra, the goatlike Chimera, and the infernal hounds Orthus and Cerberus. The Sphinx and the Nemean lion, both sired by Orthus, were also among her offspring.

Paul said that we might give our bodies to be burned but it would not count with God. He did not say that we could give our bodies to be burned if we had love. In Molech the Jews burned their children to get a secret message from the "god" in the "speaking in tongues" of the screaming child or the loud music to "keep the evil sounds from reaching the ears of the mother." The Corinthians would be more familiar with Chimera:

Definition: "Chimera in Greek mythology, a fire-breathing female monster resembling a lion in the forepart, a goat in the middle, and a dragon behind. She devastated Caria and Lycia until she was slain by Bellerophon. In art the Chimera is usually represented as a lion with a goat's head in the middle of its back. The word is now used generally to denote a fantastic idea or figment of the imagination.

Chimera, Etruscan bronze sculpture from Arezzo, Italy, 5th-4th century BC. In the Archeological Museum, Florence. Height 80 cm. A.K.G., Berlin/SuperStock

Aeolus, as we noted, is the "god of the air" and his bag is like the Judas Bag which was for holding the mouthpieces of wind instruments. It is derived from "of the world" and "speaking in tongues." Paul makes that connection in First Corinthians 13 and 14.

"Now the Cyclops had been forewarned by a soothsayer that he should be blinded by Ulysses; and when he learned the name, he tore away rocks and hurled them into the sea, and hardly did the ship evade the rocks. From that time Poseidon was wroth with Ulysses.

"Having put to sea with all his ships, he came to the island of Aeolia, of which the king was Aeolus (See Homer, Odessy, 10:1-76) He was appointed by Zeus, keeper of the winds, both to calm them and to send them forth.

Having entertained Ulysses, he gave him an oxhide bag in which he had bound fast the winds,

after showing what winds to use on the voyage and binding fast the bag in the vessel. And by using suitable winds Ulysses had a prosperous voyage; and when he was near Ithaca and already saw the smoke rising from the town, he fell asleep.

"But his comrades, thinking he carried gold in the bag, loosed it and let the winds go free, and being swept away by the blasts they were driven back again. And having come to Aeolus, Ulysses begged that he might be granted a fair wind; but Aeolus drove him from the island, saying that he could not save him when the gods opposed.

"Totally disgusted, Aeolus dismissed them. According to Homer he was human but later became a god.

In the oedipus story Aristotle Poetics the translator speaks to the man having his father's wife -- his own mother:

"The messenger for Corinth announces the death of Polybus and Oedipus's succession to the throne. Oedipus, feeling now safe from the prophecy that he would murder his father, still fears to return to Corinth, lest he should fulfil the other prophecy and marry his mother. The messenger seeks to reassure him by announcing that Polybus and Merope are not his parents. But he effect of this was to "change the whole situation" for Oedipus by revealing the truth that he murdered his father, Laius, and married his mother, Jocasta. This "reversal" is the more effective because it is immediately coincident with the discovery of the truth.

Incest (Herod's problem) was one of the worst sins. For instance, in the Law:

And the man that lieth with his fathers wife hath uncovered his fathers nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. Leviticus 20:11

This was so awful that not even the worshippers of the air could get by with it. However, to show that Corinth was deeply involved with being worse than pagans Paul wrote that in the real life:

IT is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his fathers wife. 1 Corinthians 5:1

And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 1 Corinthians 5:2

Puffed up means that they were just blowing wind. Just tickled that old Joe had his mother. As a result there is not the slightest clue that anyone who was speaking in tongues in corinth was inspired except by the god of the air.

"Sisyphus was, in fact, like Autolycus and Prometheus, a widely popular figure of folklore--the trickster, or master thief. It is obvious that he is everlastingly punished in Hades as the penalty for cheating Death, but why he is set to roll a great stone incessantly is a puzzle to which no convincing answer has yet been given. It appears to belong with other Greek imaginings of the world of the dead as the scene of fruitless labours. "Sisyphus" Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

The punishment of Sisyphus, detail of a painting on an amphora by the Achelous Painter, late 6th century BC; in the State Collections of Classical Art, Munich Bildarchiv Foto Marburg/Art Resource, New York City

Sisyphus is really going through "worship" rituals invented by vain men. He gets to the top of the mountain on Sunday and finds that the stone has rolled back down before Sunday evening. He might as well be "speaking into the air."

Autolycus

"in Greek mythology, the father of Anticleia, who was the mother of the hero Odysseus. Later ancient authors made Autolycus the son of the god Hermes. He was believed to live at the foot of Mount Parnassus and was famous as a thief and swindler. On one occasion Sisyphus (the son of Aeolus), during a visit to Autolycus, recognized his stolen cattle. It is said that on that occasion Sisyphus seduced Autolycus' daughter Anticleia and that hence Odysseus was really the son of Sisyphus, not of Laertes, whom Anticleia afterward married.

The object of the story probably was to establish the close connection between Hermes, the god of theft and cunning, and the three persons--Sisyphus, Odysseus, and Autolycus--who were the incarnate representations of that practice and quality.

And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia (warlike barbarians), The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. Acts 14:11

And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Acts 14:12

Mercury was an ereo or "utterer." He was a fast talker bringing a message from the "gods."

Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Acts 14:13

Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, Acts 14:14

And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Acts 14:15

God made the earth, rain, wind and thunder. They are the witnesses of His work and they are not gods to be worshipped. For instance, "Holy" is not a god whose first name is "Holy." Rather, "holy" means pure. God is pure Spirit. In another, sense, we also have our spirit our our mental disposition:

Pneuma (g4151) pnyoo'-mah; from 4154; a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; by anal. or figurative: a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by impl.) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, doemon, or (divine) God, Christ's spirit, the Holy Spirit: - ghost, life, spirit (-ual, -ually), mind. Comp. 5590.

Not only were the Corinthians speaking to the gods of the wind (the principalities and powers of the air) but they were speaking out of their own mind or spirit:

For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. 1 Corinthians 14:2KJV

For anyone who speaks in a tongue [a] does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. 1 Corinthians 14:2NIV

For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. 1 Corinthians 14:2NAS

No man ever spoke in a tongue or minor dialect without being in the presence of an apostle.

No woman ever spoke in tongues unless it was the madness Paul outlawed in Corinth.

No one in the Bible spoke in gibberish a sign of charismatic madness and sexual oppression. Paul outlawed MINOR DIALECTS which were called tongues.

Therefore, speaking in tongues is not from God unless only one speaks at a time and is judged to be inspired by another inspired person and can deliver unknown truth to the entire congregation is clear speech.

What Paul identified as "madness" would be understood by the visitors in Corinth as proof that they were still worshipping Aeolus, Echo or Juno as the "echoing brass" in chapter 13 clearly shows.

We should not worship God's "creatures" or created things but God Himself: this can only be done by speaking his doctrinal truth as we forth-tell that which has already been forth-told. Anything else is low or high-level speaking in tongues.

See Alexander Hislop on the Gods of the Air

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